PP pant brought on-stream by Shaanxi Yulin Energy

MOSCOW (MRC) -- Shaanxi Yulin Energy & Chemical has restarted its polypropylene (PP) plant following an unplanned shutdown, as per Apic-online.

A Polymerupdate source in China informed the company has resumed operations at the plant on July 21, 2018. The plant was shut on July 17, 2018 owing to mechanical issues.

Located at Shaanxi province of china, the PP plant has a production capacity of 330,000 mt/year.

As MRC reported earlier, in July 2017, LyondellBasell granted its Spherizone and Lupotech T Licenses to Shaanxi Coal Yulin Energy and Chemical. Spherizone is the most advanced PP technology and should help expand the company’s product portfolio, while Lupotech T should provide a cost advantage. This technology is used in the Jingbian Chemical Industrial Park in Yulin City, China.
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MOSCOW (MRC) - Chinese independent refiner Shandong Haiyou Petrochemical Group and a chemical trader have filed for joint bankruptcy, according to a court filing, the latest sign of deepening pain for the sector amid high oil prices and greater regulatory scrutiny, as per Reuters.

The companies registered their joint bankruptcy at a court in the county of Juxian in Shandong province on July 16, according to a court filing on a website run by China’s Supreme Court.

"The two companies, which share highly similar business scope, company structure, finance and assets, own assets that are smaller than their debts and are unable to service their loans, are applying for joint bankruptcy," the local court filing said.

Smaller independent or "teapot" refiners have enjoyed strong growth in recent years as China liberalized oil imports to increase competition in a sector dominated by state-owned giants, but their expansion has been curbed by tighter conditions.

Shandong Haiyou Petrochemical, established in 2006, is the first teapot refiner to file for bankruptcy in recent years.

Its crude oil distillation unit with a capacity of around 70,000 barrels per day has been shut since May.

The other company, Shandong Hongju New Energy Co, is a fuel and chemicals dealer based in the same county and was set up in 2013.

A person who answered the phone at Haiyou said she was not able to comment. Calls to the company president’s office went unanswered.

Chinese soybean crusher Shandong Sunrise Group, which used to control Haiyou, also filed for bankruptcy on Friday after failing to repay its debts.

Juxian Public Transport Development Co Ltd and the county’s assets regulator, the State Asset Supervision and Administration Commission (SASAC) each own 30 percent of Haiyou, according to an online portal run by the State Administration for Industry & Commerce (SAIC).

Four individuals own the remaining 40 percent, according to SAIC.

MOSCOW (MRC) - China's diesel and gasoline exports surged in June as refiners shipped more refined oil products abroad amid robust refining margins, as per Hydrocarbonprocessing.

June's diesel exports were up 23 percent from a year earlier to 1.61 million tonnes, but down from 2 million tonnes in May.

Gasoline exports were 1.18 million tonnes in June, up 62 percent from a year ago, but down from 1.47 million tonnes in May.

China imported 4 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) in June, down slightly from 4.15 million tonnes in May.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC)) - JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley have been picked to advise on Saudi Aramco's plan to buy a controlling stake in petrochemical maker SABIC, several sources familiar with the matter said, said Hydrocarbonprocessing.

Aramco aims to buy such a stake, possibly taking the entire 70 percent holding owned by Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund, two of the sources familiar with the matter told Reuters earlier on Monday.

Late last week Aramco confirmed a Reuters report that it was working on the possible purchase of a "strategic stake" in Saudi Basic Industries Corp (SABIC) from the Public Investment Fund (PIF), Saudi Arabia's top sovereign wealth fund.

Aramco wants to develop its downstream business as the government prepares to sell up to 5 percent of the company, which is the world’s largest oil producer. Boosting its petrochemicals portfolio further could help attract investors for the initial public offering.

JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley had already been among the advisers assisting the oil giant on its IPO.

Aramco's initial thinking is to buy the full stake owned by the PIF, but if that fails to materialise Aramco could end up with a stake in SABIC of more than 50 percent, making it a majority owner, two of the sources said.

No final decision has been made on the size of the stake as discussions are at a very early stage, they added.

Aramco and JPMorgan declined to comment. Morgan Stanley did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. The PIF did not respond to a request for comment on the size of the stake sale.

Riyadh-listed SABIC, the world's fourth-biggest petrochemicals firm, has a market capitalisation of 385.2 billion Saudi riyals (USD103 billion).

The potential acquisition would affect the timeframe of Aramco's planned IPO set for later this year, the state oil giant's chief executive, Amin Nasser, said in a TV interview on Friday.

Aramco plans to boost investments in refining and petrochemicals to secure new markets and sees growth in chemicals as central to its downstream strategy to cut the risk of an oil demand slowdown. Aramco plans to raise its refining capacity to between 8 million and 10 million barrels per day, from around 5 million bpd now, and double its petrochemicals production by 2030.

Aramco pumps around 10 million bpd of crude oil.
MRC

MOSCOW (MRC) -- The global Petrochemicals Market report identified the various delicate issues such as market growth and inhibitors, as per Thebusinesstactics.

Further, the report offer a detailed analysis of the current and future market scenario. The report also determined the market size, share, and forecast for the period 2017-2024. Going forward, the report is fabricate in such a way that it also address the most-detailed market segmentation on the global as well as regional level.

Petrochemicals are petroleum by-products of oil or natural gas derived from cracking (pyrolysis) or chemical processing. This chemical compound is obtained from fossil fuels, like coal, natural gas, or from renewable sources like corn or sugarcane. Petrochemical derivatives such as acetylene, benzene, ethane, ethylene, methane, propane, and hydrogen are precursors for many other chemicals compounds. These derivatives are widely applied in production of elastomers, fibers, plasticizers, etc. High investments and volatile prices had adverse effect on the petrochemical industrial performance. However, the market is growing owing to demand from downstream requirements.

The major market drivers are low labor cost in many regions such as Asia-pacific, increasing construction market growth and increased demand for lightweight and flexible materials. The market growth might be restricted due to availability of bio based alternatives and price instability under the study period.
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